God's Not Dead

I watched the movie God’s Not Dead tonight. The intellectual argument part was good but so not might thing as I just can’t process what someone is saying that has so much profound stuff in it without hearing it again and again or reading it so I can really process the words. In any case, it was a very good movie. I looked outside and saw the sun had just set behind the mountains but some sunshine was still coming through the clouds making a beautiful display so I decided I would take a walk with God. Along this walk God brought it to my attention that we are on a journey like a person walking down a path, we are going to encounter people and situations as we go along each day. God is working in us in each and every one of those people and/or situations that happens in each of our days. He is showering love on us, convicting us of our sins, drawing us to come closer to Him, encouraging us, bringing us wisdom, reminding us about Himself and His love, and so much more. Each day in everything we do God is working in and through us. He may be bringing us wisdom and strengthening of our faith as we read His Word or He may be giving you the encouraging words to say to a friend or motivating you to smile to a stranger who looks like they could use a smile from someone. Each day is filled with God’s work. How much more can we grow as believers if on our journey we take a moment with God to stop and reflect on our day, the people we encountered, the situations we were in, the conversations we had or didn’t have. We should be asking ourselves at the end of each day, what work has God done in me today? and what more can I learn and do tomorrow?

365 Days of Spirit-Filled Fruits Challenge-Day 296

Wisdom is not an age thing. It is a gift from God. This is a quote from a seven-year-old boy on what love is: 'Love is what's in the room with you at Christmas if you stop opening presents and listen.' Stop and listen are two of the best commands given to us to help us know that our amazing God is with us all the time.

Zephaniah 3:17 The Lord your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing.

365 Days of Spirit-Filled Fruits Challenge-Day 276

This verse from Isaiah has been repeated several times. It is a literary devise intended to make a point. The first time I read it I was intrigued by it, the second time it made me pause to consider why it might be said again but the third time was the deciding factor to really stop and look at this verse. What does this verse tell us about God? He gets angry. We are made in his image so God has all the emotions that we have including anger. He deals with his anger with his perfect wisdom and patience rather than stuffing his anger inside or worse, turning away from us completely. God has a choice too. He could leave us to Satan but he fights for us because he loves us more than all the sins we have done and will do all put together and more. He uses his anger wisely and with patience he disciplines us with some tough love, not because he is mad at us but because he loves us and his heart’s desire is to have a one-on-one relationship with him, relying on and loving him. Satan is fighting every day to pull us away from God. God is fighting every day to keep us close, under his wing. Our part is to cherish that place under his wing and look up to him for all things and not let what Satan does in our world shift our focus away from God.

Holy Father, thank you for the shelter of your wing. Help us to cherish this so much that we can withstand the ploys of Satan to pull our gaze away from you. With you all things are possible. Amen.

Isaiah 10: 4.5 Yet for all this, his anger is not turned away, his hand is still upraised.

365 Days of Spirit-Filled Fruits Challenge-Day 274

The owner of the company I work for was in town yesterday so I knew that there would be some kind of change/s foretold but this is not one I expected. I sit next to a wall that is the dividing wall between the data entry office and the customer service office. It use to be an open doorway but they walled it off a little over a year ago. Now, they want to put a door back in the wall and have one of the co-managers sit near the door so she can keep an eye on us and make sure we don’t have a bad attitude. Yes, really! I just laughed and shook my head at this news not really happy about a door going in right behind me. I was awake at 4am this morning and my brain started thinking about work stuff. Ugh. Don’t like to think about work when I am not at work. But God gave me a nice reminder of wisdom I have learned when it comes to bad attitudes. Turn your attitude around by focusing on gratefulness. Be thankful for the blessings you do have and those negative thoughts will float away leaving you with a much more positive attitude. So, I will take this wisdom with me to work today and see if I can figure out a good way to pass this along so we can all become more positive.

1 Thessalonians 5:15  Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

365 Days of Spirit-Filled Fruits Challenge-Day 265

Trusting people can be hard for some people but there are also those who are too trusting. Satan is the best with lies so you can bet that if you are not careful, you can be duped into believing those lies. I have a naturally too trusting nature and have had it get me in trouble in my younger days but in the present with being in the Word every day and learning more and more about who God is and who Jesus is, I know I have more wisdom and discernment. It has been given to me by the Holy Spirit. There are so many reasons to be in the Word of God daily and this one will help you know the Lord and be able to weed out the lies Satan will keep on doling out. Seek to be within the truth and be prepared for battle.

2John 7 Many deceivers, who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh, have gone out into the world. Any such person is the deceiver and the antichrist.

365 Days of Spirit-Filled Fruits Challenge-Day 228

I found this great book called The Divine Mentor by Wayne Cordeiro at the library. I am only partially through it but already know I will have to buy a copy to have on hand as a source for my counseling practice. He made a great case for two types of teachers: Consequences and Wisdom. How many of us have learned the hard way over and over again because we hadn’t the wisdom to do otherwise. Our greatest source of wisdom is from the Word of God and the author’s main point of the book is that being in the bible daily we will plant seeds from the stories of the people in the bible who will give us wisdom when the time comes and we need it. The author also goes into the difference between choosing from right and wrong and choosing from wise and unwise. He gave a good little story to illustrate this concept: A man working in his office was talking with a woman co-worker who was having some emotional issues. He took her to lunch to discuss and after lunch while sitting together in the parking lot she leaned over and gave him a kiss just as the man’s wife was driving by. He didn’t do anything wrong but the choice to take her to lunch was unwise and led to his wife not trusting him for the next 8 months until the trust was built back. There are constant choices in our lives some of which can have life-long effects. How much better off we would be if we called on wisdom from the Holy Spirit within us to help us make wise choices. It’s just as the apostles do in Acts 6 when they are confronted with an issue of widows being overlooked for food. They know that they are called to continue the ministry of teaching and evangelism so they call on 7 men to take on the responsibility of making sure physical needs are met of the people. They wisely choose to delegate rather than try to do it all themselves. And so our first deacons of the church were created...
Ephesians 5:15-16 Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil.

365 Days of Spirit-Filled Fruits Challenge-Day 131

I long for the day when menopause is finally here. I haven’t been sleeping well for the last 10 days and it is driving me nuts. On top of that, I have a fibroid on the outer part of my uterus that has reared its ugly head again and is putting pressure on my bladder. I did the search this morning on the internet for natural remedies and came up with little to nothing except lose weight, meditate and get soy in your diet. So, I finally cracked open my bible and looked under the topic of health. I am trying to be in control of the situation and solve the problem but I should not rely on my own wisdom but look to the Lord for his. Again, it is a control issue. I have to release these things to the only one who can solve the problem. I am raising the white flag. I surrender all to you, all to you.

Proverbs 3:7-8 Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord and shun evil. This will bring health to your body and nourishment to your bones.

365 Days of Spirit-Filled Fruits Challenge-Day 42

I got this book for Christmas from my hubbie where you read the scripture and than write it out and on the other side of the page you write notes about the scriptures. It is a method of learning that has been used for ages but in our digital busy lives we don’t do much writing. The first book I am working in is James. He says in verse 1:5 If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. A couple of days ago I was a mess, emotionally,thanks to raging hormones and physically because of my still healing shoulder and the hot office I was working in. I had no joy that day and I wanted to change that. I wrote about it on my blog and prayed and God led me to the scripture that says …for the joy of the Lord is your strength. God’s word inspired me to not only put it in writing up on my desk at work but to use my creative talents and truly make it look joyful. In seeking God for help, he gave it to me. My hormones shifted back to normal, my shoulder soreness has lessened and the heat issue in my office is getting worked out with open communication. God turned my whining and complaining back to joy. James was right in saying we should ask God for wisdom but we should be asking for everything we need, all those fruits the Spirit can give us and more. I was reminded about a time when I was a young teen and I raided my mom’s closet and took something to wear. When she found out she was mad but  not about me taking the clothes. She was upset because I didn’t come to her and ask. Like I did to my mom, are we hurting God’s feelings when we don’t seek and ask him? Thankfully, I know I am forgiven by God just like I knew my mom forgave me. I never took without asking her again because I wanted her to know that I do love her and I can show that love by seeking her and asking her. It is the same with God. This has really opened my heart to seeing how God truly wants for us to be in an open honest relationship with him as our Father, the authority over our lives. For as he tells Job in verses 38:8-13 who shut up the sea behind doors when it burst forth from the womb, when I made the clouds its garment and wrapped it in thick darkness, when I fixed the limits for it and set its doors and bars in place. When I said, ‘This far you may come and no farther; here is where your proud waves halt’? Read chapters 38 and 39 of Job when you need to be reminded of who God is. He is our Loving Father, Holy King and Ruler and authority over us and will give generously if we ask.

Psalm 30:11 You turned my wailing into dancing; you removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy, that my heart may sing to you and not be silent.

365 Days of Praise Challenge-Day 360

My newest goal is to become a smart Christian shopper. I have heard some not so great stories about how Wal-mart treats their employees and I have heard the same kinds of stories about Michael’s. I have decided that no matter how convenient or less-expensive things may be at these stores I will not shop at a store that treats its employees in such a way that goes against my values as a Christian. The other side of the coin of this goal is to buy only products made in the USA. Thankfully, after shopping at King Sooper yesterday, I think in terms of food that will be fairly easy to accomplish as long as you are checking the labels. But when it comes to clothing, gifts, household goods; that’s where it can get very challenging. So, feel free to come along on this journey with me and do this challenge with me.  Check out this blog with some guidelines on doing this challenge. http://buyamericanchallenge.wordpress.com/    Here are a couple websites that have listings of products made in the USA  http://www.howtobuyamerican.com/index.php  and http://www.americansworking.com/   Thanks be to the Lord for giving us wisdom in making choices that will let our faith in Jesus shine.

Romans 12:9

Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good.

365 Days of Praise Challenge-Day 295

I was eagerly anticipating a phone call from my church yesterday to hear about the final decision for the admin assistant position I have been interviewing for. The call came but the final decision didn't. They still haven't decided and so the HR guy asked for some  names of people I worked with in my volunteering at the church. This morning I decided to take some more initiative in giving them some help with their decision and completed a spiritual inventory which I will send in a card to the HR guy and the Head of Staff. I wasn't surprised by the results. The top 4 were: Administration, Encouragement, Knowledge and Teaching followed as a close second with Sheparding, Mercy, Wisdom and Leadership.  It was good to do this test again and see that some of my spiritual gifts have grown like Knowledge, Sheparding and Mercy. I am very grateful to God for this whole opportunity as it further shows me the gifts he's given me and those that I can work with and grow with. If you want to take a spirtiual inventory to get a better idea of what part of the body of Christ your gifts are called for, you can do the one at www.first-pres.org  Look under the Serve tab at top and than the Serve the Church tab on the left.  I would love to hear what gifts God has given to you and how you want to use them.
1 Corinthians 12:12 The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body.

365 Days of Praise Challenge-Day 277

I have been reading a book called Faith of Our Fathers. It is a book in a series on stories about the Kings of the Old Testament. This book is about Manasseh. From my reading of the bible, I knew from the get-go as I began this book that Manasseh was a king who did evil in the eyes of the Lord. I found the two entries in the bible about Manasseh and was first off glad to see the writers thus far have followed what is in the bible but the amazing part is all the story around what's in the bible. Now this is fictional so they made it up, but it really makes you think of how bad or evil a person is but what is the story behind all that sin. What got them to that place? In this case, the writers make him out to be envious and jealous of his boyhood friend and family and even though he grew up learning the Torah the seeds of this envy and jealousy had been in him and all it took was the right corrupt person to enter his life that played up to this part of him and led him away from God and to so much sin. It makes me think of how careful we need to be when it comes to the people we meet and the things they say to us. We have to call on wisdom and discernment from God to help us on our journey and make sure are path is straight to God. Wisdom, discernment and clear guidance on what my next step in life is has been my goal. Despite the pros and cons that I am putting together of the various carreer avenues I can take, I want to take the one God wants me to take. What is he calling me to? Have you wondered what next? Only God knows what is the best and right place for us to go. Seek and you will find.

2 Chronicles 33: 1-2 Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem fify-fve years. He did evil in the eyes of the Lord, following the detestable practices of the nations the Lord had driven out before the Israelistes.

365 Days of Praise Challenge-Day 253

As I was laying in bed this morning, contemplating all the plans for the day, I realized how very nice it was to be able to sleep in and wake up without the need to get up and get going.  In our fast paced world, it seems these moments of just peace, quiet and comfort are rare. This reminds me of how God wants us to be still and listen. We have to find the time, NO, make the time to just be still with God. These are the moments when our hearts are ready to receive the blessings of wisdom, clarity, guidance, insight, inspiration and on. Just like everything it is something we have to be intentional about. Jesus would go off alone into the mountains to just be with God. Are you making consitent alone time with God? Before the rush of the day starts, maybe this would be a good time to talk to God.  Lord, we thank you for the gift of our alone time with you. We forget how much it can help us and our relationship with each other. Help us to make the time to just be still and be with you so we can hear your voice. Amen.

Isa 30:20-21 Although the Lord gives you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, your teachers will be hidden no more; with your own eyes you will see them. Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, "This is the way; walk in it."

365 Days of Praise Challenge-Day 233

Today my neice is getting baptized. I was thinking about making a scrapbook page and thought of how the family and church are to be a support and guide in the life of the child being baptized so that one day that child when he/she is grown will choose to accept Jesus into their hearts. I thought of the scripture about keeping the Word on our lips and writing the law on our doorframes. Our lives should have the Lord stamped all over it from the words we say, the things we do to the values we show. God calls us to teach our children about him and the truth of the gospel. I am going to take a notebook to the baptism and ask everyone to write some piece of spiritual wisdom in their own words that they can share with my neice. I am going to take these nuggets of wisdom and make a scrapbook layout with them so my neice will have a piece of the body of Christ that will hopefully be a source of strength, hope and guidance in her life. I will frame it to go on the wall so she can see it everyday of her life. Thank you Lord for our children and help us to bring the truth to them in all ways so when they are grown they will choose you. Amen and Amen.

Dueteronomy 6: 5-9 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your sould and with all your stength. These commandments that I give you today re to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.

365 Days of Praise Challenge-Day 195

It's been on my mind and heart where this ministry is going as you already know. After lots of thought and prayer and discussing this with my hubbie, I am at peace with what I now know is the correct mindset. I joined the business mastermind group in January to be in a group that would be helpful in giving me ideas, encouragement and guidance. It did do that but I have also found that it made me think of this ministry more as a business and how to generate money. I have looked at it from all angles and find it's just not possible to do enough workshops to make the kind of money I am making at my current job. My dream of doing my scrapbooking as a business and having it be my full-time job is not feasible. This is a ministry to help women and that's what it will be. Where God takes it, I will follow. Thanks to the Lord for giving my husband the words of encouragement, wisdom and guidance that I needed to steer my course where God wants it to be.
Romans 12:2 Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.  Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is--his good, pleasing and perfect will.

365 Days of Praise Challenge-Day 190

People at my work having been talking about the negative path the new owners have taken us on. One co-worker was complaing this week how she was ready to walk out. Others have been searching for new jobs, polishing their resume's and just coping the best they can with the workload that has been put on us all without further compensation. I spoke with a co-worker at the end of the day as we were leaving and she needed to vent so I let her. She made the mistake of not taking a job she was offered because they wouldn't give her two weeks so she could quit without leaving her fellow co-workers with more crud piled on us. She won't make that mistake again. I told her I would have no hard feelings and would be glad she found something else that will hopefully end up being better than our current situation. I am learning slowly but surely that I just need to keep my mouth shut and my ears open. No need to give them a reason to let me go before I am ready to be let go. My wise husband says it's better to get a job while you still have a job. He is right, of course. So, I am thankful to him for being my listening board and giving me some good wise advise. Have you been in a situation that made you want to vent? Vent to God and a trusted spouse about what's going on.
Proverbs 10:19 When words are many, sin is not absent, but he who holds his tongue is wise.

365 Days of Praise Challenge-Day 129

A little bit of wisdom applied can go a long way... My awesome hubbie unexpectedly said lets go out for a drink. Sitting face to face with the man you live with day in and day out just doesn't seem to happen enough. He told me his love tank was at rock bottom. Ouch. But God led him to listen to the audio book by Gary Chapman, The Five Love Languages-Men's Edition. It was something I had suggested he read after I had read the books and discovered so much value in them. We had such a great heart-to-heart talk and I learned more about what will make him feel loved. However, I know it is in human nature to forget. Life will start creeping it's way back in and around us and I will end up not speaking his love language which we discovered is totally opposite of mine which is words of affirmation. So, what to do, what to do? My first thought is to create a positive affirmation to read everyday and write a prayer card to have at work. Like this challenge of praising God everyday, I am challenging myself to show my love to my hubbie in ways that will fill up his love tank. Lord, help me to shower my husband with the love he can feel. Amen.
Proverbs 17:24 A discerning man keeps wisdom in view, but a fool's eyes wander to the ends of the earth.

365 Days of Praise Challenge-Day 115

My daughter participated in a Girl Scout event last evening called Thinking Day. All the various troops had to put together a booth about a specific country and put together a skit of some kind. Faith's troop did a dance from Portugal. It was delightful trying to take photos and video of this dance. She is currently in a my mom takes too many photos stage and would look at me as she danced and give me a big frown so I subtly made faces back at her to get the smile back on her face. It was one of those fun mother-daughter moments. At the end of the event, the troops gather in one big circle and one by one went around the circle making a wish or saying a prayer silently then would put their left foot forward. In thinking about this today, I am again reminded of the power of the body of Christ. It's within the body of Christ that we can gain wisdom, discernment, clarity, inspiration, ideas, resources and on and on. Being within this body of Christ can be a powerful tool the Holy Spirit uses to help us in our lives and in our purposes that God gives each of us. I am heading this morning to a leadership class at another church but am comforted by this thought, the body of Christ is not just one church but all believers. So, no fears today going into an unknown church with unknown people. We are all of one body. Thank you God for this reminder that I needed today!
1Corinthians 12:13 For we were all baptized by one Spirit, into one body--whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free--and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.

365 Days of Praise Challenge-Day 76

It's another morning. I am alive and kicking and though it's not the ideal start to my morning with my fragmented sleep patterns I am going to focus on the fact that I am alive and healthy for the most part. I have been reading a book compiled with stories in it from Reader's Digest. It's humbling and really helps put your own life into perspective when you read about the suffering and challenges others have faced or are facing. There's always someone worse off than you. So, I am grateful to God for those challenges he is giving me and will keep praying for strength, wisdom and guidance on pushing through those life challenges I am facing and are yet to come.
Romans 8:10-11 But if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, yet your spirit is alive because of righteousness. And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you.

365 Days of Praise Challenge-Day 63

It's funny how my praise come back to the same thing again and again. People. This time I am praising God for those people in our lives that are there to help us like our dentist and doctors. These are people that do care about keeping you health or getting you back to being healthy. I felt that yesterday at the dentist. It's like your mom or dad is there but you don't take the advise as nagging like you did with mom. So, while I am not ready to go out and buy an expensive electric toothbrush as suggested, I do think I can beef up my toothbrushing skills and time. So thank you God for those people that you put into our lives that provide the right kind of advise at the right moment that will get you motivated to change something for the better and bring the healing that you may need.
Proverbs 12:18 Reckless words pierce like a sword, but the tongue of the wise brings healing.

365 Days of Praise Challenge-Day 60

Don't you just love it when a plan comes together. Okay, so you have already heard me say, I am not the best when it comes to planning. I have always been by-the-seat-of-my-pants kind of person but my new years resolution last year was to become more of a planner to be better prepared for all things. I don't want to scramble at the last minute or be stressing when I could be enjoying. I joined a master mind group and had our first meeting last week. If your not familiar with the term 'master mind group', it's simply a group of business people who are committed to getting together regualarly and we help each other with ideas and we are accountable to each other. I am working on building a good foundation for this ministry because God led me to that conclusion through His Word and many prayers. Although it is a chunk of change to do this, I felt very convicted to do it. We've only had that first meeting so far but already I have been making more strides in my research this last week. One of the first keys towards success and prosperity based on the book Ten Keys to Success and Prosperity by Meredith Bromfield is the idea of getting rid of the old negative stuff filling our lives. When we start getting rid of this stuff, what is left is an open space and like any vaccum open space will be filled. We have to create that open space for those good things to come into our lives. One of our assingments was literally to start doing 18 minutes a day to get rid of stuff whether it is actual stuff or meditating and choosing to let go of negavite feelings we are holding onto. I can't say I have done the 18 minutes but I have tried to do something everyday even if it's as little as taking the trash out of the car, which my hubbie will SO love. The great thing is I can already feel the positive affects of this with the new ideas and resources that have come to me or I have heard from others this week. So, I am thankful for the guidance this group has given already and looking forward to all it will bring in the future.
Proverbs 2:1-6 My son, if you accept my words and store up my commands within you, turing your ear to wisdom and applying your hear to understanding, and if you cal out for insight and cry aloud for understanding, and if you look for it as for silver and search fro it as for hidden treasure, then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God. For the Lord gives wisdom, and from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.